There are a few differences between a house bill of lading (HBL) and a master bill of lading (MBL) when setting up your international shipping containers. The Master is the bill of lading (B/L) that a forwarder or NVOCC will receive from the container shipping line. You may have one B/L to one container or there may be several containers on the Master B/L as part of the freight forwarding services. This B/L has the container number(s) and all of the same shipping information regarding your shipment. In fact, many times they will match almost exactly if you are shipping a full container. The main differences will be that the consignee, shipper, and notify party will include the forwarder or NVOCC on the MBL since they will be handling the cargo through the process. The HBL is issued to the actual shipper from the forwarder or NVOCC. This will include your freight shipping rates, etc that have been quoted to you. Finally, the B/L numbers for each are less significant to the shipper than they are to the forwarder or NVOCC and the container line.
